Methods, systems, and devices for designing and manufacturing a spinal rod

Abstract

According to the invention, the process includes the steps of: a) taking a sagittal preoperative x-ray of the vertebral column of the patient to be treated, extending from the cervical vertebrae to the femoral heads; b) on that x-ray, identifying points on S1, S2, T12 et C7; c) depicting, on the said x-ray, curved segments beginning at the center of the plate of S1 et going to the center of the plate of C7; e) identifying, on that x-ray, the correction(s) to be made to the vertebral column, including the identification of posterior osteotomies to make; f) pivoting portions of said x-ray relative to other portions of that x-ray, according to osteotomies to be made; g) performing, on said x-ray, a displacement of the sagittal curvature segment extending over the vertebral segment to be corrected; h) from a straight vertebral rod (TV), producing the curvature of that rod according to the shape of said sagittal curvature segment in said displacement position.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A system for generating specifications for a patient-specific implantable spinal rod to correct a vertebral column of a patient, the system comprising:
 an electronic interface configured to analyze one or more preoperative x-ray images of the vertebral column of the patient, wherein the one or more preoperative x-ray images is analyzed by:
 generating one or more modified preoperative representations of the vertebral column based at least in part on the one or more preoperative x-ray images; and 
 preoperatively obtaining a corrected curvature of the vertebral column of the patient based at least in part on the one or more modified preoperative representations, wherein obtaining the corrected curvature comprises:
 determining a curvature of a first curved segment of the vertebral column, wherein the first curved segment comprises a portion of the vertebral column below a reference point; and 
 determining a curvature of a second curved segment of the vertebral column, wherein the second curved segment comprises a portion of the vertebral column above the reference point, wherein the second curved segment comprises a different curvature than the first curved segment; 
 
 
 wherein the electronic interface is further configured to:
 generate specifications for the patient-specific implantable spinal rod based at least in part on the preoperatively obtained corrected curvature of the vertebral column of the patient, the generated specifications for the patient-specific implantable spinal rod configured to be used for obtaining the patient-specific implantable spinal rod; and 
 electronically transfer the generated specifications for the patient-specific implantable spinal rod to a user for obtaining the patient-specific implantable spinal rod. 
 
 
     
     
       2. The system of  claim 1 , wherein the first curved segment comprises a representation of sacral vertebrae of the vertebral column. 
     
     
       3. The system of  claim 1 , wherein the first curved segment comprises one or more representations of one or more vertebrae between L1 to L5. 
     
     
       4. The system of  claim 1 , wherein the first curved segment comprises one or more representations of one or more vertebrae between a first vertebra of a sacrum and a lower plate of a reference dorsal vertebra. 
     
     
       5. The system of  claim 4 , wherein the first curved segment is tangent to a straight line from a center of a representation of a second vertebra of the sacrum to a center of a representation of the first vertebrae of the sacrum. 
     
     
       6. The system of  claim 1 , wherein the second curved segment comprises a representation of cervical vertebrae of the vertebral column. 
     
     
       7. The system of  claim 1 , wherein the second curved segment comprises one or more representations of one or more vertebrae between C6 to T11. 
     
     
       8. The system of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more preoperative representations of the vertebral column comprises one or more sagittal x-ray images. 
     
     
       9. The system of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more preoperative representations of the vertebral column comprises one or more sagittal x-ray images and one or more frontal x-ray images. 
     
     
       10. The system of  claim 1 , further comprising a computer processor and an electronic storage medium. 
     
     
       11. A system for generating a specification for a patient-specific spinal rod to correct a vertebral column of a patient, the system comprising:
 an interface configured to analyze one or more preoperative x-ray images of the vertebral column of the patient, wherein the one or more preoperative x-ray images is analyzed by:
 generating one or more modified preoperative representations of the vertebral column based at least in part on the one or more preoperative x-ray images; 
 preoperatively obtaining a corrected curvature of the vertebral column of the patient based at least in part on the one or more modified preoperative representations, wherein obtaining the corrected curvature comprises:
 determining a curvature of a first curved segment of the vertebral column, wherein the first curved segment comprises a portion of the vertebral column below a reference point; and 
 determining a curvature of a second curved segment of the vertebral column, wherein the second curved segment comprises a portion of the vertebral column above the reference point, wherein the second curved segment comprises a different curvature than the first curved segment; 
 
 
 the interface further configured to generate the specification for the patient-specific spinal rod based at least in part on the preoperatively obtained corrected curvature of the vertebral column of the patient, the generated specification for the patient-specific spinal rod configured for use by an apparatus to produce the patient-specific spinal rod; and 
 the interface further configured to transfer the generated specification for the patient-specific spinal rod to cause the apparatus to produce a curvature of the patient-specific spinal rod. 
 
     
     
       12. The system of  claim 11 , wherein the first curved segment comprises a representation of sacral vertebrae of the vertebral column. 
     
     
       13. The system of  claim 11 , wherein the first curved segment comprises one or more representations of one or more vertebrae between L1 to L5. 
     
     
       14. The system of  claim 13 , wherein the first curved segment comprises one or more representations of one or more vertebrae between a first vertebra of a sacrum and a lower plate of a reference dorsal vertebra. 
     
     
       15. The system of  claim 14 , wherein the first curved segment is tangent to a straight line from a center of a representation of a second vertebra of the sacrum to a center of a representation of the first vertebrae of the sacrum. 
     
     
       16. The system of  claim 11 , wherein the second curved segment comprises a representation of cervical vertebrae of the vertebral column. 
     
     
       17. The system of  claim 11 , wherein the second curved segment comprises one or more representations of one or more vertebrae between C6 to T11. 
     
     
       18. The system of  claim 11 , wherein the one or more preoperative representations of the vertebral column comprises one or more sagittal x-ray images or frontal x-ray images. 
     
     
       19. The system of  claim 11 , wherein the one or more preoperative representations of the vertebral column comprises one or more sagittal x-ray images and one or more frontal x-ray images. 
     
     
       20. The system of  claim 11 , further comprising a computer processor and an electronic storage medium.